Natural regulators of cellular growth, differentiation and function have provided important pharmaceuticals, clinical and laboratory tools, and targets for therapeutic intervention. A variety of such regulators have been shown to have profound effects on basic cellular differentiation and developmental pathways. The transforming growth factor beta (TGF-β) superfamily is a large family of multifunctional proteins that regulate a variety of cellular functions including cellular proliferation, migration, differentiation and apoptosis. TGF-β, the founding member, has been shown to play a variety of roles ranging from embryonic pattern formation to cell growth regulation in adult tissues. TGF-β exerts its biological functions by signal transduction cascades that ultimately activate and/or suppress expression of a set of specific genes. Other TGF-β superfamily members include the TGF-β family, growth differentiation factors (GDFs), activins, inhibins, Bone Morphogenic Proteins (BMPs, and other related ligands. BMP-mediated signal transduction is important for a variety of normal processes, including bone growth and the function of the nervous system, eyes and organs such as kidneys. BMPs have diverse biological activities in different biological contexts, including the induction of cartilage, bone and connective tissue, and roles in kidney, tooth, gut, skin and hair development.
BMPs can be produced in the laboratory, however, there are few convenient procedures for purification of these materials and development of purification methods has often been ad hoc and time consuming, with purification processes sometimes taking up to 6 months to develop. Accordingly it is desired to have more efficient methods for purifying BMPs and other members of the TGF-β superfamily.